Simulated/video fantasy sports league

ABSTRACT

A method and system for conducting a fantasy sports league. A video game provided with all of the teams and their active rosters for a particular sport and season would be used to simulate the play of the game for an actual or projected season for that sport. Team owners, coaches or managers would draft players off the active roster for that sport and matchups between the teams in the fantasy league would utilize statistics generated during the simulated play of a schedule of games to determine comprehensive performance points for each team which would be utilized to determine the winner of matchups between fantasy league teams.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Ser.No. 61/430,698 filed on Jan. 7, 2011 and incorporates all of thematerial therein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to a system and method for a fantasysports league utilizing simulated played games in generating data forthe sports league.

2. Description of the Related Art

Playing sports, such as, baseball, football, basketball and hockey, aswell as other sports, is enjoyed by an ever growing number of boys,girls, men and women. Additionally, spectator sporting events haveincreased in popularity based partly upon the effect of cable televisionand various sports packages that can be purchased to view your favoriteteam or teams during a particular professional or collegiate season. Theoutcome of these games is debated and, invariably, many individualsdiscuss the attributes of different players or participants. Thesedebates often include comments about the players of an individual teamand the manner in which the owners and general managers make use of theplayers under their control.

These debates gave rise to Rotisserie League Baseball in 1980, whichmany consider to be the initial baseball fantasy league. The members, orowners of the various teams, making up Rotisserie League Baseball draftbaseball players to form fantasy baseball teams which they then managethroughout an entire baseball season by trading, playing, benching andotherwise controlling players on a daily basis. Based upon a pointsystem relating to the statistics of the pitchers and non-pitchers on aparticular fantasy team over the entire baseball season, a winning teamis determined. Subsequently, the original rules of Rotisserie LeagueBaseball were modified so that individual members of the league would beinvolved in weekly competitions with other members of the league usingstatistics generated by that member's team with respect to anothermember's team based upon the actual play of the players during the majorleague season. This type of league allows individuals to include aroster of players that would not participate in a particular week, butcould be elevated to the roster and participate in a subsequent week'sgame, at the same time demoting a player from the active to thenon-active roster.

The idea for a fantasy football league is generally agreed to antedatethe Rotisserie Baseball League. For example, it is believed modernfantasy football can be traced to Wilfred Winkenbach in 1962. Winkenbachorganized a league which consisted of people who, in his opinion, wereexperts in football. Each team was able to draft 20 players in variousoffensive and defensive positions. Weekly lineups were then submitted toa secretary of the league and the teams would compete on a weekly basis.At the end of the season, teams would hold a championship to crown theleague champion.

As can be appreciated, the Internet has facilitated the ability for anincreased number of individuals to participate in fantasy leagues invarious sports on a weekly basis. Drafts are held online and each teamowner, manager or coach submits a roster to the website administrator.Changes in the roster result by each team's owner, manager or coachelevating or demoting players between their active and non-activerosters. Additionally, trades are conducted between the managers andcoaches. Players not initially drafted may also be added to each of theteam rosters.

Based upon the actual play of the professional teams of each league,such as, but not limited to baseball, football, basketball and hockey,points are awarded to each team reflecting the statistics of the playerson the team roster as determined by the actual playing of theprofessional games for that particular week. For example, and withrespect to football, points are awarded to the running backs based uponthe yards gained and touchdowns scored. Points are awarded to aquarterback based upon passing yards, completion accuracy and touchdownsscored. Points are also awarded to running backs and offensive endsbased upon touchdowns scored and reception yardage. Furthermore, pointsare awarded to kickers based upon points after touchdowns and fieldgoals. Additionally, some leagues award points to a punter based uponthe average yards per kick during a game as well as the net returnyards. Finally, some leagues allow team owners to draft a particularteam's defense to which points are awarded for various defensiveachievements, for example, sacks, interceptions, points allowed and bothpassing and rushing yardages allowed.

As previously mentioned, the results of these fantasy sports leagues arebased upon the actual play of the professional teams associated witheach sport during a particular week. If these games are not played, suchas during a strike or lockout, fantasy leagues would not be able tooperate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by the present inventionwhich utilizes a video game associated with a particular sport. Thisvideo game is, for example, EA Sports Madden 2011 or EA Sports NBA Live2011. For example, EA Sports Madden 2011 would allow two individuals toplay a football game between any of the teams in the National FootballLeague based upon the roster of players for a particular season. Each ofthe players has the ability to manipulate the play of the game as wellas to choose the participants in the game based upon the players on eachgame's respective rosters. However, EA Sports Madden 2011, as well asother video games, can also simulate the play of that game without anyexternal influence by the video game players, once the play of the gamecommences. Whether actual people play the video game or the video gameis simulated using only the video game itself, statistics are generatedrelating to the teams and players deemed to be participating in thevideo football game. Consequently, computer generated games betweenvarious fantasy sports teams can be played and the statistics calculatedregardless of whether actual games are played.

Therefore, a fantasy league can be established, the games played, andstatistics and standings can be generated based solely upon a video gamesimulation of a game played by the actual teams in a sport, such as theNew York Giants and Green Bay Packers in football. This is to bedifferentiated from teams in the fantasy league generally consisting ofplayers culled from several of teams in the National Football League.For example, and utilizing the sport of professional football, a fantasyfootball league is established between a number of teams, such as, butnot limited to 10-12, in a “closed” manner in which all of the teamcoaches know each other or in an “open” manner in which an onlinewebsite would be utilized to organize the league with coaches notnecessarily acquainted with one another. Both “closed” and “open”leagues would operate online.

Once the league and teams are established, a draft among the leaguecoaches is held, preferably online. The draft requires that the coachesdraft players for particular offensive positions such as quarterback,running back, wide receiver, tight end and kicker. Each team includes adefined number of players at each position and initially designates a“starting” lineup as well as a number of bench personnel. Additionally,if desired, the draft includes drafting a particular professional team'sdefense, such as the Green Bay Packers or the New York Giants. Playersnot initially drafted by any of the coaches are added in various mannersto a team roster by releasing a player of a similar position from theactive roster at the appropriate time prior to a simulated fantasyfootball game. Additionally, each coach has the ability of elevating anddemoting players from the active roster to the bench roster on a weeklybasis.

During each week's play, the website administrator administers and runsthe fantasy league. The website administrator also plays the weeklysimulated games. Prior to league play, the website administrator isinstrumental in organizing the participating leagues whether opened orclosed. Although the number of fantasy teams is not crucial, it isbelieved that an optimal number of fantasy teams in the league would bebetween 10 and 12. Each open or closed fantasy league has its ownschedule, pitting the specific teams in the league against one another.Statistics for each individual player as well as the team defenses aredetermined and performance points are awarded to each of the players aswell as the team defenses based upon a schedule of points as will besubsequently described. The points for each of the active players aswell as the designated defense for a particular fantasy football teamare added together to result in total number of points for each of theteams for a particular week. The cumulative points for each particularteam are then compared to the fantasy football team that a particularteam was scheduled to play that week. These points are then used todetermine the winner of a particular matchup between the scheduledfantasy football league games, resulting in weekly as well as cumulativestandings. The website administrator operates a website which includes,but is not limited to including, the standings of each of the teams ofthe league as well as the weekly cumulative points awarded to each ofthe players. The website includes a home page which displays generalinformation, such as the directions for joining the league as well asrules for participation, a point scale for earning simulated playerperformance points and important dates and times. The website alsoincludes a league page through which team coaches can review other teamrecords and schedules throughout the season, a team page on which theteam coaches can review the statistics of his or her own team and selectstarting lineups each week, a matchup page on which the coaches viewweekly simulated matchups of teams within the league throughout theseason, an available simulated player page which coaches can utilize toadd and drop simulated professional players from their own roster, andan updated statistics page posting the cumulative statistics for eachsimulated professional player as well as the overall team standings.Other types of pages could also be included on the website.

At the end of regular league play, if desired, a playoff can beconducted between the top teams in the standings, or for that matter,all of the teams in the league. If a playoff system is utilized, theentire league schedule would not be utilized to determine the finalchampion. Rather, for example, the last week of the season, oradditional prior weeks would be utilized to provide the simulated gamesduring the playoffs.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description when viewed inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which set forth certainembodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the system utilized bythe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the process of playing a fantasy sportsgame;

FIG. 3 is a table showing examples of fantasy football league rostersfor two teams;

FIG. 4 is a table showing the points awarded to a fantasy footballleague team;

FIG. 5 is a table showing the points awarded to another fantasy footballleague team; and

FIG. 6 is a table showing a listing of typical points awarded to fantasyfootball league teams.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The detailed embodiment of the present invention is disclosed herein. Itshould be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiment is merelyexemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms.Therefore, the details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted aslimiting, but merely as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art howto make and/or use the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the major components utilized in theoperation of the present virtual fantasy sports league 10. The virtualfantasy sports league operates over a communication network 12, such as,the Internet. An individual, such as a website administrator,facilitates the operation of the present virtual fantasy sports league10 through the use of the website administrator's own computer, that is,the administrator computer 13, connected to the network 12.

In accordance with the present invention, the virtual fantasy sportsleague 10 operates by simulating the playing of sporting events using avideo game of the sport. The video game maintains active rosters forprofessional sports teams. The video game to be used in the operation ofthe virtual fantasy sports league 10 is first selected and a pluralityof fantasy teams are formed for a particular sport based upon theplayers available in the video game selected. Players for each of thefantasy teams are drafted from the active rosters of the professionalsports teams supported by the video game providing fantasy team ownerswith a lineup of players for the respective fantasy teams. A schedule ofmatchups between the plurality of fantasy team owners is established.Simulated games of virtual professional teams are then played using thevideo game for each of the projected weekly schedules. These simulatedgames are played without any interference from any of the fantasy teamowners making up the present virtual fantasy sports league 10.

It is important to clarify that the simulated games will be playedbetween the complete rosters of the actual sport teams included on thevideo game. The video game includes the actual or projected schedule foreach week of the season. A schedule between the fantasy team owners ofthe fantasy league would be prepared by the website administrator. Theroster of each fantasy team would generally include players from anumber of the actual sport teams included on the video game. After allof the simulated games are played between the rosters of the actualsport teams, points are awarded to the players based upon theirperformance in the simulated games. A cumulative score is calculated foreach of the fantasy teams by adding the performance points awarded toeach fantasy team owner of each fantasy team. Based upon the schedulebetween the teams in the fantasy league for a particular week, a winnerfor a particular matchup between scheduled fantasy teams will becompiled using the performance points awarded to each player on thefantasy team owner's roster.

As will be discussed below in greater detail, the video game under whichthe present virtual fantasy sports league 10 operates is preselected.Video games such as EA Sports Madden 2011 or EA Sports NBA Live 2011 maybe employed. For the purpose of describing the present virtual fantasysports league 10, the following description will focus upon theimplementation of a fantasy football league. It is, however, appreciatedthe concepts underlying the present virtual fantasy sports league 10 maybe applied to a variety of sports.

EA Sports Madden 2011 allows two individuals to play a video footballgame between any of the teams in the National Football League based uponthe active roster of players for a particular season. Each of theindividuals playing the video football game has the ability ofmanipulating the play of the video football game as well as choosing theplayer participants in the video football game based upon the players oneach of the actual teams respective active rosters. EA Sports Madden2011, as well as other video games, can also computer generate the playof that football game without any external influence by the video gameplayers, once an individual commences the game play by selecting theappropriate options on the video football game. Whether actual peopleplay the video football game or the video football game is computergenerated using only the video game software itself, statistics aregenerated relating to the real world teams and players deemed to beparticipating in the virtual football game. Consequently, a schedule ofweekly simulated games can be played, and match-ups between variousfantasy football teams can result, and the statistics calculatedregardless of whether actual football games are played.

Therefore, and in accordance with the present virtual fantasy sportsleague 10, a fantasy football league is established, a schedule of gamesare played, and statistics and standings are generated based solely uponsimulated football games. For example, a fantasy football league isestablished between a number of teams, such as, but not limited to10-12, in a “closed” manner in which all of the fantasy team owners knoweach other or in an “open” manner in which an online website is utilizedto organize the league with fantasy team owners not necessarilyacquainted with one another. Both “closed” and “open” leagues wouldoperate online.

Once the virtual fantasy sports league 10 and the associated fantasyteams are established, a draft among the fantasy team owners is held,preferably online. The draft requires that the fantasy team owners draftactual roster players of teams installed in the video game, for example,National Football League team players in Madden, who then become fantasyplayers on the designated fantasy team. The players are drafted forparticular offensive positions such as quarterback, running back, widereceiver, tight end and kicker. Each fantasy team includes a definednumber of fantasy players at each position and initially designates a“starting” lineup as well as a number of bench personnel. Additionally,if desired, the draft includes drafting a particular professional team'sdefense, such as the Green Bay Packers or the New York Giants, as thefantasy defense for the fantasy team.

Players not initially drafted by any of the fantasy team owners may beadded in various manners to a fantasy team roster by releasing a playerof a similar position from the active fantasy team roster at theappropriate time prior to a simulated fantasy football game.Additionally, each fantasy team owner has the ability of elevating anddemoting fantasy players from the active fantasy roster to the benchfantasy roster on a weekly basis.

During each week's play, the website administrator administers and runsthe virtual fantasy sports league 10. The website administrator also“plays” the weekly simulated games. Prior to league play, the websiteadministrator is instrumental in organizing the participating leagueswhether open or closed. The virtual fantasy sports league 10 has its ownschedule, pitting the specific fantasy teams in the fantasy footballleague against one another. This is to be differentiated between theactual or projected schedule for the teams in the underlying sportsleague, such as the New York Giants versus the Green Bay Packers forprofessional football. Statistics for each individual fantasy player aswell as the fantasy team defenses are determined and points are awardedto each of the fantasy players as well as the fantasy team defensesbased upon a schedule of points as will be subsequently described.

The points for each of the active fantasy players as well as thedesignated fantasy team defense for a particular fantasy football teamare added together to result in total number of points for each of thefantasy teams for a particular week. The cumulative points for eachparticular fantasy team are then compared to the fantasy team thatparticular team was scheduled to play that week. These points are thenbe used to determine the winner of a particular matchup between thefantasy team owners, resulting in weekly as well as cumulativestandings.

The fantasy football league operates a website which includes, but isnot limited to including, the standings of each of the fantasy teams ofthe virtual fantasy sports league 10 as well as the weekly cumulativepoints awarded to each of the fantasy players. The website includes ahome page which displays general information, such as the directions forjoining the virtual fantasy sports league 10 as well as rules forparticipation, a point scale for earning fantasy player performancepoints and important dates and times. The website also includes a leaguepage through which fantasy team owners can review other fantasy teamrecords and schedules throughout the season, a team page on which thefantasy team owners can review the statistics of his or her own fantasyteam and select starting lineups each week, a matchup page on which thefantasy team owners view weekly simulated matchups of fantasy teamswithin the fantasy league throughout the season, an available fantasyplayer page which fantasy team owners can utilize to add and dropfantasy players from their own fantasy roster, and an updated statisticspage posting the cumulative statistics for each fantasy player as wellas the overall team standings. Other types of pages could also beincluded on the website.

At the end of regular fantasy league play, if desired, a playoff can beconducted between the top fantasy teams in the standings, or for thatmatter, all of the fantasy teams in the virtual fantasy sports league10. If a playoff system is utilized, the entire actual or projectedleague schedule of the underlying teams, such as the actual or projectedschedule of the National Football League would not be utilized todetermine the final champion. Rather, for example, the actual schedulefor the last week of the season, or the actual schedule for additionalprior weeks would be utilized to provide the simulated games during theplayoffs.

The operation of the entire virtual fantasy sports league 10 iscontrolled through the use of a central server 14 as well as a computerprocessing unit (CPU) 18 and a memory (or database) 16 which preferablyincludes both volatile memories such as a DRAM and SRAM as well asnon-volatile memories such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM and FLASH. The memory16 permits the program or programs to operate the virtual fantasy sportsleague 10 and stores all of the statistics, performance points andstandards of the league.

The computers of the fantasy team owners are also connected to thenetwork, and ultimately to the server. Since the present invention isdescribed with respect to a fantasy football league, the term “teamowner” is utilized herein to designate the individual or individuals incharge of a particular fantasy football team. However, it is appreciatedthat depending upon the fantasy sport being operated in accordance withthe present invention, the terms used to describe the participants maybe varied.

Each computer 20 is provided with a standard keyboard 22, a standardprinter 24, a standard monitor 26 and a standard mouse 28, all of whichare used to interface with the network 12. However, it is appreciatedtechnology advances and the exact construction of the computer by whichfantasy team owners access the server will certainly change over time.The virtual fantasy sports league 10 is designed to operate by playingsimulated football games utilizing a video football game including allof the National Football League teams and their active rosters, eachfantasy team being provided with a fantasy roster of fantasy players(based upon actual players from active National Football League rostersas maintained by the video football game chosen for use in accordancewith implementation of the present virtual fantasy sports league 10) fora particular season. Simulated games, and associated statistics, aregenerated through either functionality in the video football gameallowing for generation of game statistics with no human interventionother than starting the game.

Once the video football game is selected, a draft of active players fromactual National Football League teams is completed and fantasy teams areestablished, each actual or projected game for a particular week of thefootball season (for example, the National Football League season) willbe simulated by the website administrator. Consequently, a game console29 under the control of the website administrator would also beconnected to the network 12.

As the present virtual fantasy sports league 10 is implemented using acommunication network 12, the virtual fantasy sports league 10 ispreferably accessed via a website. It is appreciated that each fantasyleague, such as fantasy football league or fantasy baseball league,preferably includes a website provided with a home page and otherdisplays which is accessed by the fantasy team owners within an open orclosed league. This home page is also utilized to publicize theexistence of a particular virtual fantasy sports league(s) 10 inaccordance with the present invention and allows each of the fantasyteam owners within a closed or open league to register their particularfantasy team, including fantasy team name with the websiteadministrator.

As such, each fantasy team owner is required to choose a unique username and password for the purpose of logging in to (or accessing) his orher own virtual fantasy team. Each of the user's names is visible to allof the fantasy team owners in a particular league. A secure and privatepassword is selected by each fantasy team owner and known only to thatfantasy team owner to ensure that the fantasy team owner is the onlyparticipant with access to the owner's team roster. The use of securepasswords ensures that each fantasy team owner is the only participantthat can make changes to his or her fantasy roster in order to maintainfair play and the competitive integrity of the fantasy league.

Initially, a particular fantasy football league, whether open or closed,is organized by a league coordinator. The league coordinator registershis or her fantasy football league with the website administrator. Eachof the team owners within a particular league registers their own team.The league coordinator is also a team owner and participant. Once allteams are registered within the league, the league coordinatordetermines the date and time of when a draft is held. The leaguecoordinator determines the minimum number of fantasy teams as well asthe maximum number of fantasy teams which are allowed to participatewithin their particular fantasy football league.

The league coordinator posts the time and date the draft will be held onthe website. The draft selections are decided on a round robin basiswith leagues deciding the order of picks among its fantasy teams. Eachfantasy team owner within the league must draft a required number offantasy players from the active player rosters of all of the NationalFootball League teams for a particular year. A list of these activeplayers would be provided on the website. The number of fantasy playerson each fantasy roster is established by the league coordinator. For thepurposes of the present invention, it is assumed that 12 fantasy playersare chosen from the active rosters of the National Football Leagueteams. Additionally, and as shown in FIG. 3, these 12 fantasy playersmust include at least one player from a number of offensive positions,such as quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end and kicker,as well as one “wild card” player who could either be a running back,wide receiver or tight end. It is noted that the number and types ofthese designations will be up to the league coordinator.

Furthermore, and as shown in FIG. 3, each fantasy team owner, during theinitial draft, or, in a subsequent draft, would draft two NationalFootball League team defenses.

During each week of play, the fantasy team owners choose eight fantasyplayers from his or her active fantasy roster as well as one teamdefense. These active fantasy rosters are then be posted on the league'swebsite.

Additionally, a league schedule of the fantasy teams is administered bythe website administrator. These matchups are selected randomly and asequitably as possible so that each fantasy team owner has theopportunity to play all of the other fantasy team owners an equal numberof times on a rotating basis.

Only the fantasy players selected on the team's active fantasy roster(or starting lineup) for a given week and placed in a specific fieldposition by the fantasy team owner have the opportunity to earnperformance points based upon their play during a particular week. Ascan be appreciated, the majority of fantasy players on a fantasy rosterare from different National Football League teams. Therefore, each week,a full slate of the actual or projected games are simulated by thewebsite administrator and performance points are awarded to each fantasyplayer, as well as team defense, based upon the simulated play.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart 30 showing the manner in which the gamesin the virtual fantasy football league are played. The websiteadministrator, at Step 32 selects the appropriate video football gamecorresponding to the particular professional sport season, in this casefootball. The video football game is inserted into the correspondingvideo game console 34. Teams and matchups are selected by referring tothe actual or projected professional game schedule at Step 36. Forexample, if the New England Patriots are scheduled to play the New YorkJets, the website administrator will match up these two teams for playvia the commercial video football game. All games scheduled for thatparticular week will be played in full. Once the video football game isinserted into the console, the entire game, at Step 38, is played withno interference from the website administrator or any of the fantasyteam owners. In an effort to mirror reality, and when possibleconsidering the limitations of the video game, weather and othervariables at game time will be taken into account.

The simulated game is videotaped at Step 40 in its entirety and streamedon the fantasy league website during the actual or projected game timeas published by the National Football League. If the game time is notpublished by the National Football League, games would be video streamedat different times such as Sundays at 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, andMondays and Thursdays at 8:30 PM, all Eastern Standard Time. This wouldoccur if no actual schedule was completed by the National FootballLeague resulting from the actual season being partially or completelycancelled, due to, for example, a lockout or player strike. The scheduleis determined by the website administrator and game times are posted onthe website. Once a game has begun, benched fantasy players cannot bemoved into the starting lineup or vice versa. However, once thatparticular simulated game has been concluded, fantasy roster changes canbe made by moving benched fantasy players into the starting lineup,starting lineup players onto the bench as well as obtaining players notlisted on any other players' roster or making trades.

Statistics for each of the fantasy players in the video football gameare automatically compiled within the video football game and arereadily available during and at the conclusion of the simulated game asshown in Step 42. During the simulated game, the fantasy websiteadministrator posts each fantasy player's performance and updates eachfantasy player's accumulated performance points at Step 44. Defensiveteam statistics are also recorded and accumulated as shown at Steps 42and 44. The fantasy player statistics may include, but are not limitedto, yards rushing, yards passing, fumble recoveries, field goals andpoints after touchdowns as shown in FIG. 6. The statistics are thentranslated into corresponding points as also shown in FIG. 6 and aretotaled at the end of the simulated game as shown in Step 46. At Step48, the total corresponding points for each fantasy team is determined.At this point, a comparison is made between the two fantasy footballteams scheduled to play and points are awarded to the winning team. Allof the statistics of the individual players, defenses, as well as thestandings of the fantasy football teams will be shown on the appropriatepages of the fantasy leagues website.

FIG. 3 shows the fantasy rosters 50 for two particular teams, Sdevoreand Jsmith 44. FIG. 3 indicates the positions and benched players forSdevore shown at 52 and Jsmith 44 shown at 56. Column 54 indicates theroster players for Sdevore including the chosen defensive team i.e.,Green Bay as well as its benched players. Column 58 shows the rosterpositions and chosen defense as well as its benched players for Jsmith44.

FIG. 4 shows a Table 60 of the fantasy roster 52 for Sdevore as well asthe points awarded to each of the fantasy players in Column 62. Inaddition, the time that is remaining in a particular quarter is shown inColumn 64. Line 66 indicates that the total performance points awardedto the active fantasy players as well as the chosen fantasy defensiveteam were 65. It is noted that statistics are also awarded to thebenched fantasy players. Generally, these statistics and thecorresponding points awarded thereto are not utilized in determining thetotal points awarded in line 66. However, these statistics could beutilized in generating a list at the end of the season showing theamount of points generated by all of these fantasy players on thefantasy football team's roster.

FIG. 5 shows a Table 70 for the team of Jsmith 44. Column 56 indicatesthe positions and column 58 lists the fantasy players as well as fantasydefense for that particular position. Column 72 shows the amount ofpoints awarded to the particular fantasy player and fantasy defense. Thetime that is remaining in a particular quarter is shown in Column 74.Line 76 shows that 66 performance points were awarded to fantasy teamJsmith 44. Therefore, comparing line 66 with line 76, it is noted thatfantasy team Jsmith 44 did defeat fantasy team Sdevore in their matchedup games.

FIG. 6 shows projected points awarded for different statistics earned bythe owner's fantasy players and fantasy defense. As can be appreciated,this listing of points can be changed by the league coordinator prior tothe season commencing as well as by a majority of the fantasy teamowners.

After all of the simulated fantasy games have been completed each weekand the scores are posted, a fantasy team owner has the option of addingand releasing fantasy players from their fantasy roster. However, thetotal number of fantasy players on a particular fantasy roster shouldnever exceed the total number of fantasy players for a fantasy team,according to the fantasy football league.

If the fantasy football league is using the actual or projected schedulefor the National Football League, each week of that season all of thematch ups between the National Football League teams would be played.

The overall winner of a given simulated fantasy league can be determinedthrough a playoff seeding and a tournament, if the rules permit.Immediately following the conclusion of the fantasy football leagueseason, each fantasy team is seeded by the website administrator into aplayoff bracket based upon the regular season standings of their fantasyleague. For example, a fantasy team with a regular season record of 12-2will receive a higher seed than a fantasy team with a regular seasonrecord of 9-5. The fantasy team with the best overall record willreceive the number one seeding and the fantasy team with the worstrecord would receive the lowest seed available. It is noted that, basedupon the league rules, all of the fantasy league teams can be includedin a playoff, or a limited number of the fantasy teams with the bestrecord would be involved in the playoffs. If a playoff is utilized, oneor more of the last actual or projected scheduled games for a particularNational Football League Season would be employed.

Winners of each playoff matchup will advance through the fantasyfootball league playoff tournament while losers will be eliminated fromthe playoff tournament. The playoff tournament will continue until thereis a winner of the fantasy football league.

Additional features can be employed to make the game experience moreinteresting. For example, prior to the simulated video games beingplayed by, for example, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets,the website administrator could consult with a weather site or thelocation of the home team for that game and could input weatherinformation which would affect the play of the game. For example, if thegame is to be played in New England in the middle of December, and theweather forecast is for heavy snow, that factor would affect theperformance of both of the teams. Additionally, the website couldinclude a “chat page” available to the team coaches within a specificleague. The chat pages will be created to allow communication among theteam coaches and will be provided access to the live chat only withother team managers based upon the user password assigned to each of theteams.

Additionally, each of the simulated games may contain commercial breaksduring stoppage of play where deemed appropriate. Pre-recordedcommercial videos provided by advertisers will be shown during thesestoppages. There may be commercials between official simulated periodsof play such as between innings in baseball, periods in hockey andquarters in football and basketball.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the inventionhas been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible inlight of these teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described inorder to best illustrate the principles of the invention and itspractical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the artto best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

1. A method of operating a sports fantasy league utilizing a video gamecontaining all of the sports teams active rosters, and projected weeklyschedule for a particular sport, comprising the steps of: forming aplurality of fantasy team owners for a particular sport; draftingplayers for each of the fantasy teams from the active roster included inthe video game to provide a lineup of players for each of the fantasyteams; providing a schedule of matchups between the plurality of fantasyteams; playing simulated games utilizing the video game for each of theprojected weekly schedules, the simulated games being played without anyinterference from any of the fantasy team owners; assigning performancepoints based upon the play of each simulated game for each of theplayers on the active roster of a fantasy team owner's fantasy team; andcalculating the performance points for each lineup of players of each ofthe fantasy teams to create a cumulative score for each of the fantasyteams for a projected week's schedule.
 2. The method in accordance withclaim 1, further comprising the steps of: comparing the cumulative scorebetween the each of the matchups for a particular week to determine awinner between each of the matchups; and posting a weekly standing ofthe fantasy team based upon the winner of the matchups for each weekduring the course of a fantasy league season.
 3. The method inaccordance with claim 2, wherein the particular sport is football, andeach of the fantasy teams drafting at least one team defense to beincluded in the lineup.
 4. The method in accordance with claim 3,wherein the performance points include points assigned to the teamdefense.
 5. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the draftingof players and the playing of the simulated games are done over theInternet.
 6. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein all plays ofall of the simulated games are streamed over the Internet.
 7. The methodin accordance with claim 6, wherein advertisements are aired during thecourse of streaming the simulated games over the Internet.
 8. The methodin accordance with claim 1, further including the step of using theweather conditions at the site of a projected home team to affect thesimulated game at that site.